Toy train

ABSTRACT

A toy train comprising a series of at least three wheeled toys each having one or more markers, such as holes therethrough, the number of markers on any one toy indicating the desired order of the toy in the train. The individual toys are detachably coupled to each other by flexible coupling means extending between intermediate toys in the train, the coupling means being designed so that the toys cannot be coupled together in the wrong order. Each coupling means may be in the form of a flexible strand, such as a cord, having pegs secured to its opposite ends, the peg at one end being permanently secured to one of said toys and the peg at the opposite end fitting into a recess in an adjacent toy.

United States Patent 1191 Nielsen Apr. 9, 1974 1 TOY TRAIN I21] Appl. N0.: 336,691

[52] US. Cl. 46/201, 46/216 12/1953 Onley 10/1971 ,Foley et al. 46/201 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Robert F. Cutting Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Frederick E. Lange 5 7 ABSTRACT A toy train comprising a series of at least three wheeled toys each having one or more markers, such as holes therethrough, the number of markers on any one toy indicating the desired order of the toy in the train. The individual toys are detachably coupled to each other by flexible coupling means extending between intermediate toys in the train, the coupling means being designed so that thetoys cannot be coupled together in the wrong order. Each coupling means may be in the form of a flexible strand, such as a cord, having pegs secured to its opposite ends, the peg at one end being permanently secured to one of said toys and the peg at the opposite end fitting into a recess in an adjacent toy.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures TOY TRAIN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION One of the favorite toys for many generations has been a toy train in which various wheeled toys simulating railwaycars, wagons, or othervehicles are coupled together. Often the coupling means is detachable to enable the wheeled toys to be connected and disconnected. In some cases, these toy trains have been relatively complicated, closely simulating the vehicles they were supposed to represent. These are usually intended for useby the older child. Other toy trains have been simpler in nature to appeal to younger children of preschool ageQ v I For the most part, however, most of the simpler prior toy trains have had relatively little educational value beyond that of encouraging the child to recognize the similarity between the toy and the vehicle which it is supposed to simulate. In many cases, the primary function of the toy is'to amuse the child by producing an unusual motion or sound as the vehicle is moved along.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned with a'toy train of very simple construction which each wheeled toy in the train has oneor more. readily visible markers, the number of markers indicating the desiredorder of the toy in the train. Specifically, I employ holes as markers. Thus,fthe-first toy in the train has one hole through there, the second toy has two holes, etc.

A further feature of the invention is theprovision of flexible coupling means, each coupling means taking the form of a flexible member permanently attached to one wheeled toy and detachably connected to an adjacent wheeled toyl The wheeled toy intendecl'to be at the rear'of thetrain has no means-at its rear for detachable connection with another toy. Similarly, the

wheeled toy intended to be atthe front of the train has no means at its front for detachable connection with another toy. Thus, where the number of vehicles in the train is relatively limited, the chances of the child connecting together the toys in'thewrong order is minimized. f

'The combination of readily visible markers on each toy indicating the rorderin which the individual toys are tobe connected and the use of coupling means which limits the extent to which the toys can be incorrectly FIG. 3 is a top plan view of an intermediate wheeled toy of the toy train.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the wheeled toy shown in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTIONOF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, it will be noted that the toy train comprises three wheeled toys 10, 11, and 12. Toys and 11 are flexibly connected together bydetachable coupling means 13 and toys 11 and 12 are connected together by coupling means 14. The foremost toy 10 has a screw eye 16 secured thereto and a pull cord is fastened to the screw eye. Where the toy is to be used a I desirable to employ body members having a thickness coupled results in the child learning quickly to connect I the individual toysin the proper sequence. This is ac complishedlong before the child necessarily is familiar with numerals. A child learns, for example, that the toy with three markers goes behind the one with two mark learns, forexample, that he can lift the toy by placing a finger throughlone of the other marker holes.

, Various other objects andfeaturesof the invention will-be apparent'from the consideration of the accoms panying specification, clairrisand drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 'FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the toy train as viewed from one side.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view taken from the same.

side as FIG. 1 and with portions shown in section.

of approximately 1% inches and wheel members of a thickness of one-half to three-fourths of an inch. The wheel members preferably have a'diameter of approxicerned, each of the toys 10,11 and 12 are identical and the description of the wheel and body construction need not be repeated in connection with toys 10 and 12. The toy 10, it will be noted, has one marker2-2 in the form of a hole through the body portion 18. The toy 11 has two, holes 23 and 24. and the toy 12 has three holes 25,26 and 27. If a fourth wheel toy were to be providedit would have four holes therethrough. I have,

however, found that three toys is a desirable number to 1 employ although my invention is not necessarily so limited.

Turning now to the coupling means 13, it will be noted that this coupling meanscomprises a flexible strand of material 30' which is shown specifically as a piece of cord. This cord is secured at its opposite. ends to two cylindrical pegs 31 and 32 by passing the ends through apertures in the pegs and. knotting the ends.

peg may be secured against removal by either having the external diameter of peg 32 so related to the internal diameter of aperture 33 that peg 32 must be forced into the aperture 33 or by providing a suitable adhesive between the portion of peg 32 projectinginto the aperture and the wall of the aperture.

Cylindrical peg 31 fits into cylindrical aperture 34 which has an internal diameter slightly greater than the external diameter of peg 31 so that peg 31 can be readily inserted and removed from the aperture 34. It is thus possible to quickly detach toy I 1 from toy 10 by removing the peg 31 from'the aperture 34. In FIGS. 3 and 4 in which toy I 1 is shown by itself, it will be noted that the cylindrical recess 34 is empty, the peg 31 having been removed therefrom.

The coupling means 14 between toys 11 and 12 is similar to the coupling means 13. Thus, there is a strand 36 such as piece of cord which is secured at its opposite ends to two cylindrical pegs 37 and 38. The manner in It will be noted that where only three real toys are employed in the' train, it is impossible to connect the cars out of order. Since there is no connection means at the rear of the rear toy or at the front of the front toy, it is impossible to connect any toys behind the rear toy 12 having three holes or to connect any of the toys in front of the front toy having only one hole. It is possible, it is true, to connect toy 10 to toy 12 but even in such case the cars are connected in a numerical sequence, with one number missing from the sequence.

' It will be readily apparent that the present train of toys provides an extremely simple construction for teaching a child a sequence of numbers. Long before the child becomes acquainted with numerals, he can recognize thatthe toy with two holes in it goes behind the one with one, and thatthe one with three holes in it goes behind the one with two holes. Furthermore, if he tries to connect the one with two holes ahead of the one with one hole-or behind the one with three holes he finds it impossible.

It will also be noted that there are no parts which are readily detachable. Because of the use of flexible members such as cord between the vehicles, the vehicles can be turned at very sharp angles with respect to each other;

Not only do the holes 22 to-27 provide a very visible marker means readily noticed by 'a child, but they also provide an additional play function for the child. They may be used to grasp any one of the'toys. This is particularly helpful with very small children who may have trouble grasping the toy in the conventional manner. Furthermore, they provide peep holes through which a child may look when he is holding the toy in his hand.

While we have shown a specific'embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that this is for illustration only and that the scope of the invention is limited solely by that of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A toy train comprising: a series of at least three wheeled toys detachably coupled to each other,

each toy having one or more readily visible markers,

the number of such markers on any one toy corresponding to the desired order of the wheeled toy in the train,

each of said wheeled toys except a first one at one end of said train having a flexible coupling member permanently secured at one end thereof to an end portion of its associated wheeled toy and having attaching means at its opposite end for detachable connection to the adjacent end of the next wheeled toy in the train,

' and each of said wheeled toys except the one at the opposite end of the train from said first one having attaching means at one end thereof for detachable connection with said attaching means of that one of said flexible coupling members secured to the wheeled toy adjacent said one end thereof.

2. The toy train of claim 1 in which each flexible coupling member is secured at its forward end to the rear portion of its associated wheeled toy and has attaching means at its rear extremity for detachable connection to the front of the wheeled toy to the rear of it.

3. The train of claim 1 in which each such marker is in the form of a hole extending through the body of the toy. v

4. The train of claim 1 in which each such flexible coupling member is a flexible strand of material secured to the associated toy by being secured to a peg which is permanently secured to the body of the toy.

5. The train of claim 1 in which each such flexible coupling member is a flexible strand of material secured at one end to a peg which is permanently secured to the body of the wheeled toy to which it is secured, and is secured at its opposite end to a peg which is detachably secured in a recess of the wheeled toy adjacent it, said peg constituting one of said attaching means and the recess constituting the other of said attaching means. 7

6. The train of claim 1 in which there are three wheeled toys and in which the coupling means is designed so that the toys cannot be coupled together in the wrong order.

7. The train of claim 1 in which each wheeled toy in the train has a body in the form of a flat block and wheels rotatably secured to said block, said markers being associated with said block arid being located above the wheels. 

1. A toy train comprising: a series of at least three wheeled toys detachably coupled to each other, each toy having one or more readily visible markers, the number of such markers on any one toy corresponding to the desired order of the wheeled toy in the train, each of said wheeled toys except a first one at one end of said train having a flexible coupling member permanently secured at one end thereof to an end portion of its associated wheeled toy and having attaching means at its opposite end for detachable connection to the adjacent end of the next wheeled toy in the train, and each of said wheeled toys except the one at the opposite end of the train from said first one having attaching means at one end thereof for detachable connection with said attaching means of that one of said flexible coupling members secured to the wheeled toy adjacent said one end thereof.
 2. The toy train of claim 1 in which each flexible coupling member is secured at its forward end to the rear portion of its associated wheeled toy and has attaching means at its rear extremity for detachable connection to the front of the wheeled toy to the rear of it.
 3. The train of claim 1 in which each such marker is in the form of a hole extending through the body of the toy.
 4. The train of claim 1 in which each such flexible coupling member is a flexible strand of material secured to the associated toy by being secured to a peg which is permanently secured to the body of the toy.
 5. The train of claim 1 in which each such flexible coupling member is a flexible strand of material secured at one end to a peg which is permanently secured to the body of the wheeled toy to which it is secured, and is secured at its opposite enD to a peg which is detachably secured in a recess of the wheeled toy adjacent it, said peg constituting one of said attaching means and the recess constituting the other of said attaching means.
 6. The train of claim 1 in which there are three wheeled toys and in which the coupling means is designed so that the toys cannot be coupled together in the wrong order.
 7. The train of claim 1 in which each wheeled toy in the train has a body in the form of a flat block and wheels rotatably secured to said block, said markers being associated with said block and being located above the wheels. 